Deported Woman Says Delta Lost Her Dog

A Delta passenger’s trip from the Dominican Republic to the United States became a nightmare after a series of unfortunate events. After getting her visa canceled, the woman claims that Delta Air Lines lost her dog.

Paula Rodriguez was traveling to California on August 18 along with her dog in the cabin when she was told that she was being deported. Upon arriving in Atlanta at 6:55 PM on Friday, Rodriguez was informed by border staff that she “didn’t meet the requirements of her visa.” After getting her visa canceled, she was instructed to take the next flight home.

Since the soonest flight was in the morning, she was instructed to spend a night at the detention center. However, she couldn’t bring her dog with her. And that’s when things turned from bad to worse. She eventually found out that Delta lost her dog.

Delta Lost A Passenger’s Dog

Rodriguez said, “They called a Delta agent, who took Maia from me.” She added “I started asking questions about where she’d be spending the night and told him she’d been in a lot of distress on the flight. When we’d got there (to Atlanta) she’d puked with distress and had diarrhea.”

The staff then told Rodriguez to not worry. She was reassured that the dog was staying with a trained staff. Delta’s staff said that “they’d give her food and water and take care of her.”

With a flight scheduled for 10:20 AM the following day, the border staff told her that she would leave the detention center an hour and 45 minutes before her scheduled departure. She was also told that her dog was going to be there.

Then, as passengers were boarding, Rodriguez’s dog, Maia wasn’t there. Rodriguez said, “The gate staff started making calls. A manager came and said they were looking for her, that she should be in the facility but they didn’t have time to look and I should get on a plane.”

They then shifted her to a flight to Punta Cana, scheduled an hour later . Punta Cana is a two-hour drive away from Santo Domingo. She was happy to switch destinations thinking that her dog was going to be with her on the next flight. However, her dog didn’t show up and border agents told Rodriguez that she couldn’t stay in the US for more than 24 hours without a visa.

Two days after Delta lost her dog, an airline representative in Santo Domingo called. The airline explained that a staff opened her kennel and she got out of the car.

Search for Maia

With Rodriguez’s visa canceled, her mother was the one who went to Atlanta to represent her. Rodriguez said, “They’re giving her a tour, and showing her the tapes, but she says there’s nothing—no leads.”

Delta told CNN that “Delta teams have been working to locate and reunite this pet with the customer.”